Dodge’s Dart subcompact was just revealed a few weeks ago, but we’ve already got two pieces of future speculation on where the lineup could expand.  First, Mopar will be bringing a concept Dart to the Chicago Auto Show, called the Dart GTS 210 Tribute.  It previews the two “stages” of Mopar upgrades for the new sedan.  Stage 1 will be aesthetic goodies, like the carbon fiber hood with Viper-esque scoop, and matte black side skirts, front diffuser, and other trim -- along with those good looking 18″ alloys.  Stage 2 will bump power output from 184bhp (assuming that’s the 2.4L) to 210bhp, probably through intake/exhaust/tuning.  The other piece of speculation comes from Motor Trend, who brought up the question: what will be under the hood of the next SRT-4?  Remember the original tire-smoking Neon SRT-4 packed 230 horsepower, and the ungainly but fast Caliber packed 285, so MT is guessing the Dart SRT-4 will have at least 300 under the hood.  It’s all guesses, but the smart money’s on a boosted variant of the 2.0L or 2.4L “Tigershark” I4′s, cranking out around the magic 300 mark through the twin-clutch automated manual.  Here’s hoping.

Audi’s just released details on a new engine offering for the A6 and A7 in Europe, and it’s a belter.  Called the 3.0 BiTDi, it’s a twin-turbocharged higher output version of their existing 3.0L diesel V6 engine.  The turbos are set up in a sequential arrangement, and the engine also has regenerative braking and a start/stop system.  This version cranks out a healthy 309bhp between 3,900-4,500rpm, and an even stronger 480lb-ft torque from 1,450-2,800rpm.  All models (A6, A6 Avant, A7) will come with an 8-speed automatic hooked to Quattro AWD, and it’ll be fast: the A6 3.0 BiTDI will do 0-100km/h in 5.1 seconds (the A6 Avant and A7 in 5.3.)  Average fuel mileage is 44.1mpg Imperial for all.  Prices range from £43,810 for the A6 SE Saloon 3.0 BiTDI to £53,436 for the A7 S-Line.  It’s still nowhere near BMW’s new M Performance triple-turbo diesel craziness, but it’s a start.

Dodge is reviving the iconic Viper sports car for model year 2013, and they’ve just released the first teaser image of the car (which is schedule to debut at the New York Auto Show in April).  From this image, we can tell the 2013 (SRT, not Dodge) Viper will have… headlights.  And a hood scoop, and a roof of some sort.  Not very helpful, but this is much better strip tease than the Buick Encore at least.  Supposedly the new Viper will have stability control, and a new version of the gargantuan 8.4L V10 fitted with Fiat’s MultiAir system -- we’ll see.

The Super Bowl is apparently happening soon -- I don’t really do the NFL thing, so I don’t care -- but that does mean there are some great car ads on the way.  There’s also this Honda ad, which reincarnates Matthew Broderick as Ferris Bueller.  Only he’s actually Matthew Broderick, and instead of his friend’s dad’s Ferrari, he’s driving a Honda CR-V on his “day off.”  I’m sorry, I’m pretty sure Ferris Bueller would be more interested in joyriding in an Aventador.

There are some other funny ads coming out, but Audi’s always a strong contender for best Super Bowl ad.  I think they’ve got this year in the bag, with their minute-long “Vampire Party” spot.  The premise is that Audi’s new LED headlights are so bright, they cause vampires to explode.  I think they’re just poking fun at Volvo, who has gotten on board promoting for the silly “Twilight” tween sparkly vampire franchise.  Still hilarious.

Under the “What are intellectual property rights?” heading, we have the upcoming JAC 43R, made in (you guessed it) China.  Hmm.  It does look a little bit like a Ford F-150.  Surely consumers won’t get them confused, it’s not like it has a blue oval in the front grille… Wait, yes it does.  The continued theft of designs from China is one of the many reasons why they’ve made almost no headway into real automotive markets.  Wonder what’s under the hood?  A Mitsubishi 4G63?

Another terrible teaser image, this one from American electric-car maker Tesla.  This is the silhouette of the upcoming Model X crossover, which has me so excited I can’t stay conscious.  Just kidding, electric pseude SUV’s aren’t my thing -- although the company claims it’s “faster than a Porsche 911 and more spacious than an Audi Q7,” so that’s something.  The Model X will be revealed on February 9th in a live webcast as well as at Tesla’s design studio in Hawthorne, CA.

And finally, I’m curious: how do you stall a car that has an automated manual transmission?  Does this guy just suck at driving, or does Aston Martin have some more programming work to do on the transmission of the One-77, their nearly 2 million dollar bespoke hypercar?  Either way, it’s a mixture of “The sound, oh the glorious sound” and laughter at this dude failing to make a right turn in city traffic.

It’s true.  It’s part of the human psyche.  In a battle between David and Goliath, people are always going to hope that the slingshot wielding man takes down the towering beast.  Perhaps it’s the societal interpretation of “Rage Against The Machine.”  People want to see the scrawny midget kick the stuffing out of the club bouncer.

And so it is, I believe, with cars.  Or at least it seems to be that way.  Case in point:  Nissan’s GT-R.  Now, this is not to say that the GT-R is a Pygmy in a room full of Amazons, or extraordinarily cheap.  In fact, if you point your browser over to Nissan’s website, you’ll see that $89,950 is required to put a new GT-R in your driveway.  If you select the Black package with Super Silver paint (odd), you can bring the MSRP damn near $100,000.  I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot of money.

However, as I’m sure you’re tired of hearing, the GT-R possesses performance figures far above it’s price range.  In a recent Road & Track article called “The Two Second Club,” they put some timing gear on a 2012 GT-R, which has the updated 530-horsepower engine.  It’s an alarmingly fast car.  With Launch Control engaged, it runs to 60mph in 2.94 seconds, 100mph in 7.3 seconds, and plows the quarter mile in 11.2 seconds at 123mph.  To buy another car that can hit 60 in less than three seconds from the factory, you’d have to spend $160,00 and change for a 911 Turbo S PDK.  Or $2.8 million for a Veyron Super Sport.

So, for the price of 31 stock GT-R’s, you can hit sixty about 0.4 seconds faster in a Veyron Super Sport.  I’m not thick-headed, and I realize that people who can afford Veyrons are cross-shopping Lear Jets, not Nissans.  But there’s no way a GT-R could beat a Veyron in, say, a rolling-start mile drag race?  Not possible.  Orr, uhh…

Okay, surely a fluke.  Perhaps that particular GT-R had a prototype engine with valve springs made out of Chuck Norris’ fists.  Come on.  This is a six-cylinder Nissan with an engine that has ties back to the Quest minivan.  Maybe the video was fake.

Alright, the Veyron got the drop on that standing start by more than a second, and there’s not a lot of conclusive evidence in this particular video, considering it’s shot on a highway at night in traffic (presumably “computer generated, in Mexico, professional stunt drivers, do not attempt!”), but this is a 730 horsepower GT-R that’s not far off the pace of a Bugatti Veyron.  Of course, this is not where the GT-R underdog theory ends.  There are scores of videos of GT-R’s just absolutely annihilating vehicles that should be faster.  Shoulda, woulda, coulda.  How about a $273,000 Bentley Continental SuperSport?  The one with carbon fiber instead of a back seat, and a 621-horsepower twin turbo W12?  Errr, nope.

Okay, this is getting ridiculous.  How about an 11-wide drag race including exotics like a Ferrari 458, Porsche 911 GT3RS, Audi R8 5.2, Mercedes SLS AMG, and Corvette Z06?  Nope, no, not at all -- the GT-R is the first across the finish line, beating the quarter-million-dollar Ferrari 458 by a tenth of a second.  The $375,000 Lexus LF-A, the crown jewel of Toyota engineering, the car they had to create a new way to make carbon fiber to produce?  Nowhere close, at 11.9.

How about highway rolls against a 750-horsepower tuned version of the supercharged Corvette ZR-1?  Surely a tuned ZR-1 can pull on a 6-cylinder Nissan at high speeds!  Once again… nope.

Maybe a Dodge Viper, the flag waver of American overpowered rocketships, with a Paxton supercharger strapped on it to make a thundering 750 horsepower.  In a standing mile, where the advantage of a fast all-wheel-drive launch is minimized?  Maybe a blown 8.3L V10 Viper can take out a 3.8L Nissan?  Nope.  In fact, the Viper gets off the line faster, but by the end of the standing mile, it’s a half-second and 9mph behind through the traps.

Ok, so tuned GT-R’s don’t seem to have trouble beating any kind of exotica.  SLS, LF-A, even a Veyron or two, tuned ZR-1′s, what can’t these things beat?  Well, how about one of Underground Racing’s 1200 wheel horsepower twin-turbocharged Lamborghini Gallardo’s, running on race gas?  What out there is faster than a twin-turbocharged UGR Gallardo?  Well, unless it’s an AMS Alpha 12 GT-R.  Which makes 1200 wheel horsepower as well.

The Alpha 12 is pretty ridiculous, though.  It’s a full-interior street car that does the quarter mile in 8.97 seconds (about a second quicker than a Veyron SS), and 60-130 in 3.31 seconds according to AMS, which is about a second and a half faster than said Veyron.  Remember though, even though it’s a hugely expensive modification: it’s still a Nissan.  With a sleeved 4.0L V6, huge turbos, and a professional built transmission by ShepTrans, we’re still hardly even talking about a tenth the value of a Veyron.

Maybe we’re looking in the wrong place for a challenger here.  Maybe the GT-R’s combination of sophisticated launch control and leech-like grip, with the possibility of absurd aftermarket horsepower, is just a bit too much for other cars.  Maybe a sport bike can take the heavy Nissan sports car down a notch -- after all, we’re talking power to weight ratios that aren’t even on the same planet as even very fast cars.  That seems more fair.

Ok, maybe not from a 30 roll.  How about from a standing start, where the GT-R has to overcome all 3,800lbs and change of mass to get moving?  And how about if we put it up against one of the absolute, bar-none fastest production motorcycles in the world: the 197mph Suzuki GSX-1300R Hayabusa?  Again, no: while the Hayabusa gets a decent lead in the beginning against this Switzer R850 GT-R, the Nissan still beats it in the quarter mile (10.71 vs 10.76), and by a wider margin in the standing mile (26.46 vs 26.93.)  Also notice how much higher the GT-R’s trap speed (speed at the time it crosses the finish line) is: 197mph vs 183 for the 1300cc Suzuki.  Damn.

Ahh.  It turns out, if you want to find the car that can beat the invincible underdog, you have to go back to the old underdog: the MkIV Toyota Supra Turbo.  It feels good to watch this 67mm single-turbo Supra walk this modified GT-R like it’s standing still…  much in the same way that it feels good to watch a Switzer P800 pull on a Veyron.  The world comes full circle.

Awesome intro image via MotorTrend.

I always make it out to Raleigh’s Cars & Coffee event the first Saturday of every month. It’s always worth it, even though I abhor waking up early, because there’s always awesome stuff to see.  A lot of the same cars show up, so I won’t show pictures of stuff you’ve already seen – for those you can check previous Cars & Coffee coverage here, here, and here.

For starters, here is one of 337 Porsche 959′s ever built, which was Porsche’s rolling technical showcase that blew everything else out of the water in the 1980′s, and set the standard for supercar performance.  None were ever imported to the US; it’s likely this one has been fitted with the Canepa Design engine kit, which allows the 959 to pass federal emissions regulations for importation, as well as increasing power from 444bhp to 576.

The engine bay of the 959.  Hard to get a picture of this because there was a crowd around it the whole time.  Not really much to look at, engine wise!

First one I’ve seen: the extremely rare Pontiac Solstice Coupe.  These went on sale in early 2009, and the plant closed down in July 2009 – only 1,152 regular production Coupes were made, compared to around 61,000 Solstice Roadsters.  This one is the GXP, with the turbo 2.0L LNF engine – beautiful car, shame about GM killing Pontiac though!

A great license plate, and some more Kappa-chassis love.  This one’s on the back of a Saturn Sky Redline, which also has the Turbo LNF engine.  There was a hilarious sticker on the battery cover, which is slightly NSFW so I just linked to it.

The Lotus-designed, Quad-Cam, 32 valve LT-5 V8 from an über-rare C4 Corvette ZR-1.  So cool to see these!

Super-dropped E46 330i sedan looking great!

A Terminator (03-04) Cobra looking absolutely mean on black wheels, with a huge charge-cooler hiding behind that front bumper.  The 5.0 Fox Body Mustang next to it has a pretty impressive engine bay, as well.

Vortec blower, MSD ignition, and a polished GT40 (SVT Cobra) intake manifold.  This car has to be an absolute handful.

Why would a Viper GTS need a drag parachute?  Well, take a look under the hood.

Extra deceleration abilities come in handy when you have a 1000+whp Twin-Turbo V10 built by Underground Racing.

Cadillac CTS-V Sedan.  Nothing more needs to be said.

I almost walked past this second-generation Eclipse, until I noticed the intercooler that seemed to fill up the front bumper, the 4-piston AP Racing brakes, and the GSX badge.  I found the owner later, and he popped the hood.  Worth the wait.

FULLY built 2.0L.  Rods, pistons, intake manifold, rams-horn exhaust manifold with a Precision GT35, transmission built by Shepard Racing.  The owner – Alex – was a real nice guy, there will be a feature coming on this monster GSX soon.  He’s expecting close to 700 horsepower at all four wheels from this setup once it’s tuned properly.

A brace of badass BMW M Cars – E90 M3, E28 M5, E39 M5 – the best of the best, if you ask me.

Can’t afford a CTS-V?  Just supercharge your G8 GT!

Apparently the trick Boss 302 intake manifold (which is where the Boss gets most of it’s extra power – 444 vs. 412 – from) has been on sale longer than the Boss 302 itself has been.  This is on a modified 2011 GT 5.0, the owner says he’s had it for more than 2 months now.

“My X-Type is too a real Jaguar!”  Look, if your Jaguar is a station wagon with a Taurus engine, no it isn’t.

Three-spoke wheels look good on two things: Saabs, and Italian sport bikes.  Ducati 748, viva Italia!

An Innocenti Mini, owned by a mutual friend.  These are mostly just like Austin Minis, only they’re built in Italy.  A rare spotting in the ‘states, to be sure!

Real Aston Martins have 8 cylinder, 4 cams, 32 valves, and 4 Weber carbs in a plenum.

A pretty cool Volvo 940 Turbo.  This one has the TD04-15g Turbo from an 850 Turbo, big injectors, a large intercooler, a turbo Mopar FPR – most of the turbobrick tricks.  It doesn’t hurt the whole car is flat black with a hood vent cut in, an “I Am The Stig” sticker, and Hella rally lights on the front, either.  It’s pretty quick!

Slightly ratty-looking, but it’s still a twin-cam AE86 Corolla GT-S hatch with the correct wheels.

Before OJ Simpson made it infamous, so infamous they had to ditch the name; hell, before “SUV” was even a term, the original Ford Bronco was a light, simple off-roader.  I’ve never seen an original Bronco in this kind of shape – love the Carolina Blue paint job too!

Even though if you view it logically (they’re overpriced and slow compared to other sports cars in this price range), I still stop and stare every time I see a Maserati GranTurismo – they’re just so gorgeous.  Especially the wheels.

Porsche’s 911 (930) Turbo – a timeless classic, and still a very rapid car by today’s standards.  God help you if you lift in a corner…

Last thing from C&C, this perfect Corvette Grand Sport replica.  I only wish you could hear how tremendous this car sounds through this picture – those side pipes made beautiful music.

This wasn’t at Cars & Coffee, but I saw it about an hour after leaving, and it was so badass I felt the need to include it.  As if a blacked-out Ford GT wasn’t amazing enough, I came back a few minutes later and the rear clamshell was open…

And no, the GT didn’t come with a polished Whipple supercharger stock.

Or these huge titanium exhaust pipes.  When he took off up the road, I had to admit it was literally the best-sounding car I’d ever experienced.  Utterly amazing.  Until next month!

Picking up where Part I left off, we find ourselves in the back of 3SX Performance’s service shop. In addition to a handful of lifts in the main service bay, 3SX also has a number of other rooms filled with interesting stuff in the back of their shop -- starting with the dyno room.

This is 3SX’s photo, because I somehow forgot to take one of the dyno.

3SX’s dyno is a SuperFlow AutoDyn 88, which is a four-wheel-drive unit.  This seems like a no-brainer, but the vast majority of dynos at private shops are only 2WD models, as they’re cheaper, easier to set up, easier to keep working right, and easier to use.  But when the bulk of your business is tuning 4WD cars, a 2WD dyno is about as useful as a chocolate tea pot.

That’s four drag slicks.  Yup.

Since the front and rear rollers are interconnected, the SuperFlow dyno works with modern AWD cars equipped with ABS speed sensors, stability control, and other systems that make modern AWD cars hard to accurately dyno.  And with a 1500bhp capacity, there’s very little you can strap to the dyno that will out-run it.

Next to the dyno room is the “clean room” or engine-building room, where 3SX strips down and builds entire motors.  While I visited, there was only one engine sitting on a stand -- but if you’re only going to look at one engine mid-build, it might as well be this one.

Is that a big turbo, or are you just happy to see me?

This engine was pulled out of the red fourth-gen Supra Turbo that was visible in some of the pictures in the previous article.  It’s had the bottom end rebuilt due to bad bearings, and it’s close to complete in this point.

braided stainless lines and anodized fittings: art in motion.

After doing a little research, from the markings the turbo seems to be a Garrett T-67.  This is a Garrett T3-based racing turbo with a huge .70 A/R which is good for 650+ horsepower, and it’ll be more than adequate for this street-driven Supra Turbo.  Also check out the divorced Tial race wastegate -- serious hardware, no half-assed setup here.

Here we observe the mighty 2JZ at rest.

Moving into the machining room and back shop, we arrive at the shelf full of spare transmission parts.  Remember how I mentioned these gearboxes are fragile at high output?  This is proof right here.

Oh god.

That’s an entire shelf of transmission parts.  Considering Getrag no longer makes replacement parts for the 6-speed transmission in later VR-4′s, having a huge stockpile of Getrag parts is a great idea for a VR-4 shop.  Still, it’s a sobering sight if you’re looking into your VR-4′s engine bay and imagining huge turbos.

Like a nest of snakes fighting, only much faster.

Moving further back into 3SX’s back rooms, you find some interesting projects in various states.  This is under the hood of 3SX’s VR-4 drag car, which to date has run a best time of 9.214 seconds @ 154.98 mph. Best trap speed was just shy of 160mph in the 1320, 159.23mph.  That is seriously quick, and in fact 3SX’s T4 drag car held the record for fastest AWD 3S-chassis in the 1/4 mile until recently.  How does a car that normally runs 13.4-13.7 in the quarter run a 9.2?  Short answer: 996awhp.

It’s lonely at the top.

Long answer?  A bit more complicated.  3SX has run through quite a few configurations to get the T4 drag car kicking ass and taking names like it is now.  This one uses custom-ground cams, forged internals, a custom intake plenum, and a set of twin Garrett GT35 twin-scroll ball bearing turbochargers(!)  Most drag cars with 902whp have sort of dramatic take-offs; 3SX’s T4 drag car just sort of disappears.  Here, watch.

Give me turbos!

3SX seems pretty fond of Vipers; this newer SRT-10 hard top is another shop toy.  Mostly stock, just high-flow cats, but you have to wonder what’s in store for under the hood of this snake.  Of course, it’s not just Vipers and 3000GT’s that 3SX works on; you can find all sorts of interesting things laying around their shop.

Not a common sight.

This is a DOHC Chrysler 420A under the hood of a second-gen DSM (in this case, an Eclipse that it really isn’t worth showing you the outside of.)  Contrary to popular belief, not all DSM’s had Mitsubishi 4G63′s under the hood -- this engine was also found under the hood of the first-generation Neon’s.  This one has a pretty serious TD04 turbo setup under the hood, but had been left behind after a diagnoses of needing an engine rebuild from the bottom up.  It would probably be a quick car if it was running.

Next, we’ll be moving into 3SX’s other building, where they have a warehouse, the online sales department, a showroom, and the offices.

Ohhh… shiny.

This showcase has a few of the parts 3SX offers for the 6G72 -- twin cam and single, turbo or non -- including an intake manifold, downpipes, valve covers, pistons, transmission mounts, Y-pipes…

3SX/Ross pistons.

But this building really gets interesting once you make your way back into the warehouse.  Stacks of parts up to the ceiling, parts and project cars strewn about, and in the middle of all of it, this:

One of these is not like the others.

A ’59 Cadillac hard top.  The tastes of even the most specific enthusiasts sometimes stray to poles -- who says a fan of complicated, high-tech twin turbo AWD Mitsubishi’s can’t rock an old-school Caddy in his spare time?  There are other interesting cars stuffed back in here, too -- check out this pristine (if dusty) intercooled, big-turbo Starion.

Sadly, no “turbo” logo seatbelts.

Don’t let the layer of dust fool you -- although this car has been sitting for a while, it’s probably the nicest Starion I’ve ever seen.  The setup under the hood looks like a lot of fun, too:

G54B, remember me?

Another really interesting car can be found tucked in the back of 3SX’s warehouse -- their “T2″ front-wheel-drive drag car, which holds the record for the fastest FWD 3000GT down the quarter mile, with a best run of 10.191 s @ 140.31mph.

Man those tires are wide.

Obviously, the T2 drag car isn’t naturally aspirated like all of the production FWD 3000GT’s and Stealths were.  This one uses a modified VR-4 engine with custom port and polished heads covering race cams, 1000cc injectors run by AEM stand-alone engine management, custom prototype turbochargers, Pauter rods and 3SX/Ross Pistons, and a huge front-mount.  The engine has come out of this one, eventually to find a home inside an early VR-4 for street use.  Which will be sick. Unlike the T4 drag car, this one can lay down a pretty solid warmup burnout even on those ludicrously wide drag slicks.

Yeah, the EPA is on the line, they want a word with you.

Need parts for your 3000GT?  Probably should try giving these guys a call, chances are they’ve got it.

Some call it hoarding.  It’s “inventory” if you sell it!

How about a box full of turbos?  I’d love to set this on the family room table as an art display.  But I suppose I have weird tastes in art…

More than a Veyron’s worth of turbos.

I would mount this on my wall.  Screw posters.

Get some!

As I wrap up the shop tour of 3SX Performance, I’ll leave you with this last picture:  When you’re biggest fish in a small pond, sometimes they get stacked up pretty deep.

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Questions?  Comments?  If you liked the shop tour, drop a line!  If there’s something you’d like to see or read more of (or less of) on the next one, let me know.  And if you have a VR-4 and would like it to possess weapons-grade horsepower™, give 3SX a call at 704-784-3724.  If you just need some parts, the warehouse can be reached at 704-786-6400.  And if you hate phones, shoot them an email at info@3sx.com, orders@3sx.com, or service@3sx.com.  That’s all, folks!

Thanks one last time to the whole 3SX crew for letting me traipse through their shop, ask all sorts of weird questions, and take pictures of everything with a turbocharger on it.

]]> http://www.carthrottle.com/shop-tour-3sx-performance-part-ii/feed/ 1 http://www.carthrottle.com/viper-announces-end-of-production-with-50-final-edition/ http://www.carthrottle.com/viper-announces-end-of-production-with-50-final-edition/#comments Fri, 09 Apr 2010 22:24:35 +0000 Tony http://www.carthrottle.com/?p=16691 The current Viper saga is finally coming to a close. Last year, the future of the car was in doubt as Chrysler hit financial hard times.

After they attempted to sell and only received one long-shot bid from the now-defunct Devon Motor Works, many thought they would be shuttered.

However, the Viper plant was actually the first Chrysler plant to resume production after the bankruptcy. It was then announced that a new model would be introduced in 2012, in cooperation with “Italian operations.”

The current model’s production is being ended soon to preserve the value of the current run. As such, the last run of current Vipers is set to end this summer, with the 50 Final Edition models.

As far as special models go, the Final Editions are pretty standard issue. There is to be 20 Final Edition Coupes, 18 Roadsters and track-ready ACRs. Each will be in one color: Graphite Clear Coat with a black center hood stripe outlined in red, along with six-spoke wheels for the Coupe and Roadster models.

ACR models get special black Sidewinder wheels. Coupes and ACRs models will also get a black windshield surround that the Roadster does without.

The interior continues on with the color theme, with the cars getting side sill badges, red accent stitching on the black surfaces, and red surrounds on the gauge cluster and bright stainless steel screws in center stack bezel.

Each car will be numbered, with a plaque on the shifter surround. Viper Final Edition floormats round off the package.

Far as power goes, the Final Editions stick with the same 8.4-liter V-10 engine making 600 horsepower and 560 pound-feet of torque. . As for pricing? We don’t know that yet. Dodge says production is slated to start this summer. No word on if there will be a unique buying process either.

He said then that a run of 500 final edition Vipers will be produced before that date, and that they will be the “most special Vipers ever.” The ACR-X is one of those Vipers, a hardcore, track-only (not street legal) version of the Viper.

According to Gilles, Dodge wants to end with a bang, preserve the value of the current generation car until a new vehicle (which is being developed right now, in partnership with “Italian operations”) is ready in 2012. Long wait? Yes, but the important thing is that we are getting a new Viper at all.

Dodge released this video showing off the ACR-X, putting the engine on the dynometer. It makes 640 horsepower, up 40 from the stock engine, by having 5-into-1 exhaust headers and no catalytic converters, along with other changes. Check out the the red-hot headers below.

Back in the dark days of summer 2008, with Chrysler heading toward bankruptcy, Devon Motor Works made an offer for Viper while Chrysler was attempting to sell it.

Being a lowball offer of only $5.5 million, Chrysler rejected. Apparently there was more to the whole thing than it first appeared.

Chrysler recently announced that the current Viper will be ending production in 2010, with a new model to come in 2012.

This has thrown a wrench into Devon’s plans. Beyond sharing the same V10, the sharing goes deeper than that, to include the chassis and other components.

Given that, all the work Devon has done to produce the GTX can’t be carried over. Thus, this ends the short saga that was Devon Motor Works.

Along the way, the company produced an interesting design as well as setting a Laguna Seca track record (that, ironically, beat the Viper’s record and was recently beaten again by a Viper).

The company’s flagship store in Beverly Hills is still going to open, where a line of apparel that includes Devon  jeans, leather jackets, watches, scents, and eyewear will be sold. In addition, a motorcycle project is in the works.

Now a video has come out from the cockpit of the car as it goes around for the record-breaking lap. It is narrated a bit by Dodge test driver Chris Winkler, as he runs through the important turns on the track. It is worth checking out!

The latter is a heavy part of a project that does aim to provide an American supercar – the Devon Motor Works GTX. It uses a modified version of the Viper’s V-10. The GTX recently toppled the record for the highest speed time around Laguna Seca, incidentally set by a Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR.

Now, it appear that record has been beat yet again – by (you guessed it) – the Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR.  SRT Driver Chris Winkler took the Viper around the track for six hot laps before lapping it in a scant 1 minute and 33.915 seconds on his seventh time around.

SRT came with the aim of taking back the fastest time, and they achieved it. With that result, he set the unofficial record around the track.

The result isn’t too unexpected – the Devon Motor Works GTX and Viper are closely related, and the GTX’s lap time was extremely close to the previous record. We’ll see if Devon give it another go around in hopes of setting the record again – could be an interesting competition going on here!

The car’s future has been in doubt over the past year. Prior to bankruptcy, Chrysler deemed it as one of the assets it had worth selling. No buyers were found and the “brand”, as Chrysler liked to call it, continued with the company throughout the bankruptcy process. Chrysler received only one offer for it, a lowball from Devon Motor Works (of GTX fame).

To the surprise of many, the Viper’s Conner Avenue assembly plant was the first Chrysler plant to go online post-bankruptcy. The smart owners at Fiat realized the value of the Viper brand name and its place as a profitable halo for the Dodge brand. The next-generation of Viper vehicles was in question though until now.

Ralph Gilles, CEO of the newly-formed Dodge car brand, said that production of the current Viper generation will end in July of next year.  He says that a run of 500 final edition Vipers will be produced before that date, and that they will be the “most special Vipers ever.”

According to Gilles, Dodge wants to preserve the value of the current generation cars by not continuing to produce them.  A gap between July 2010 and 2012 seems a bit long, but the important thing is that we are getting a new Viper at all.

An all-new car is being developed right now, with help from the company’s Italian operations. Ferrari, anyone?! As long as Dodge makes sure it is in line with the car’s unique set of characteristics, that is fine with me!